(From dialogue in internet)
There are many important points in your (X) reply, which I would like to comment on, noting firstly that we seem to be in substantial agreement on what we have covered so far. We are clear as to God, or the Absolute, being both transcendent and, at the same time, immanent, and also on he sentiency of the creator God. And the fact that His existence can be proved by using “simple reason”, outside the framework of Christian theology, that is, on philosophical grounds (as did Plato, Plotinus, etc., as well as in the philosophico-theologico-mystical Hindu tradition of the Vedas. I will now proceed to briefly comment on some relevant issues raised by you:
X. – “The seemingly empirical nature of reality is indeed nothing more than intellectual illusion”
Y – This is an essential teaching or postulate in Advaita Vedanta.
Causation
From the higher of the two levels of understanding in Advaita Vedanta, that is, that of the Absolute, there is no causation. As everything in creation, it is an apparent reality, a phenomenon, applying to both external and internal perceptions of the apparent individual; here, in the notion of an “apparent individual”, we may not come to an agreement, but it stems from the immemorial tradition of the sages, risi, of Vedic times and is expounded in the Upanishads; their experience may be called visionary but, again, it is based on reason/analysis and observation. Is this mysticism?, or intuition? Does the name matter?)
To be continued…
As humans we use words to discuss, ponder, and analyze, but take language away and we are left with only the vibration that Is.
… silence. As the Austrian philosopher Wittgenstein said (or wrote), “When there is nothing to say, thereby one remains silent”.
I visited your blog and saw the good work on spiritual heeling and meditation you are doing. Congratulations for the awards! A. Martin